About the Programs

If the kitchen has always been your favorite room in the house, then a career in Culinary Arts could bring you a taste of success. The Culinary Arts program is a hands-on professional program designed to give you the skills you need for a career in Culinary Arts. The Culinary Arts Institute is committed to delivering world-class instruction in all areas of the hospitality industry, including pastries, hot and cold kitchens, dining room and bar, cost controls and management, restaurant design, nutrition, and sanitation and safety.

Emerging chefs in the Culinary Arts Program participate in experience-based learning opportunities, from cooking basics in the college’s high quality commercial kitchens to running a food truck or apprenticing with top Santa Fe restaurants and caterers. A Culinary Arts student recently won the $4,500 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship and spent three weeks on an educational culinary tour in Italy. An annual fundraiser supports the annual trip to Italy, where students experience cuisine and culture as they study Italian cooking, ingredients and techniques.

Patissier

Are you the one always asked to bake sweet delights for family gatherings? There is more to the restaurant industry than just the art of cooking; Santa Fe Community College will give you hands-on experience to teach you proper pastry tool techniques, large kitchen equipment operation and basic to advanced baking methods and the chance to create edible works of art.

In Santa Fe alone, the possibilities for pastry chefs are endless. In this tourist-based town, hundreds of fine hotels and restaurants offer opportunities for you to create your own recipe for success with a patissier certificate.

As a tourist mecca, Santa Fe has great job prospects in a variety of positions and environments. Graduates of Santa Fe Community College are in high demand, and current graduates earn $12-to-$15 per hour. Sous chef salaries in Santa Fe vary from $25,000 to $32,000. Executive chefs in the area earn between $50,000 and $100,000 or more.

Culinary Arts Garden

Culinary Arts Study Abroad Program

Provides international educational opportunities for qualifying SFCC Culinary Arts students to expand their knowledge of the relationship of food and culture; engage directly in food-related businesses and industries of various regions and communities; acquire additional skills in teamwork, collaboration and entrepreneurship and integrate key principles of sustainability into Culinary Arts.